


I promise I'll remember this time

by IzzyMay6363



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Langst, M/M, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, klance, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-05 10:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18364553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IzzyMay6363/pseuds/IzzyMay6363
Summary: When a simple mission to help Coran mend the castle goes awry, the Paladins find themselves trapped on an unfamiliar planet with some rather unexpected inhabitants. When Keith and Lance become separated from the others, they must overcome their differences in order to make it back safely.Beneath both of their facades lies a vulnerability that neither expected to find, and as they grow closer, their situation only grows more complicated.





	1. How they separated

**Author's Note:**

> A Klance story!
> 
> I wanted it to read almost like an episode, taking into account that Lance openly displays his affection towards Allura in canon. I hope this fic shows how Klance could still develop despite this, although this (and the Klance elements themselves) will become much more obvious in later chapters.
> 
> Enjoy!

The wind was blowing intermittently over the sloping forest canopy, and from his vantage point on the pinnacle of the hillside, Lance was able to see the slithering creatures make their way towards the other Paladins as they approached the edge of the trees. Sweat trickled teasingly down the back of his neck.

“Shiro.” He attempted a calm voice. “Something’s coming for you. Looks a bit weird.”

The crackle of Pidge’s voice sounded in his ear. “What kind of weird? Elaborate, Lance.”

“The equivalent to the castle’s goo with a tail, I guess.” Lance replied, cheerful tone sounding off even to his own ears. “Whatever it is, it’s close. On your left.”

“Okay, we’ll be ready in case of an attack.” Shiro said in acknowledgement. “Thanks, Lance.”

Lance resisted the urge to wipe the stray droplet of sweat away from where it tickled his neck. His fingers curled around his Bayard until his knuckles turned white.

The mission, when briefed, had seemed reasonably simple. Coran needed a particular substance to help with engineering the castle, and whilst Pidge and Hunk seemed to agree with its necessity, Lance had struggled not to let his mind wander to how pretty Allura’s hair looked on that particular morning. Consequently, in his current position, high above the rest and waiting to protect them all from inevitable danger, he could not remember what it even was they were risking their lives for.

The droplet of sweat released itself from the clutches of his skin and slid down between his shoulder blades. Lance shivered.

He couldn’t help but feel a little useless. With Keith down there, Lance probably wouldn’t need to shoot even once. The likely reason that his position was to defend the group instead of fight with them was because his intelligence and close combat skills simply weren’t as good as the other’s. He was a fifth wheel in Voltron. Seventh if you counted Coran and Allura.

He missed his family. No matter how many of them there were, Lance knew he was still significant among them.

“Lance!” Keith’s voice snapped him out of his reverie, and Lance felt a mixture of panic and shame. Now wasn’t the time to wallow in self pity.

“Are you okay?” He asked, loudly.

“Would you hurry up and shoot them? They’re clearly mindless, dangerous-” Keith’s anger was cut off by Shiro.

“They’re surrounding us from all sides, Lance. They seem to be here to kill or eat us, so be prepared to shoot if necessary.”

Lance nodded, even though no one could see him. “Got it.”

He watched carefully as Shiro punched the slimy creature with his Galran arm. Its mass exploded in ugly yellow splatters. Some landed in Keith’s hair, and Lance snickered before catching himself, gaze focusing. The creatures seemed too slow to cause the team too much trouble, and yet they continued to grow in number, appearing from nowhere as if moulding themselves out of the leaves and moss of the forest floor. Lance squinted. Each time one was destroyed, the slime left behind seemed to dissolve into the ground, disappearing completely. And each time one was destroyed, the ground beneath him shook a little, disrupting Lance’s aim.

He glanced at the back of Keith’s head, where the slime had hit.

Gone.

“Guys!” He yelled, voice trembling. “You have to get out of there! That forest, it’s-”

As if aware of Lance’s intentions, the dozens of giant slug things halted their assault on the Paladins, instead rearing up in the direction of Lance, displaying, grotesquely, hundreds of tiny suckers barbed and jagged with little teeth.

He watched as Hunk began to recoil in terror, and his own words caught in his throat.

“We need to move whilst their attention is on Lance.” Shiro murmured, dead quiet. The forest floor began to rumble. “NOW!”

They hurtled back towards the base of the hill, eyes wide with confusion. Lance ached to pull the trigger and shoot the nearing slugs down, but having seen the way they dissolved, merging once more with the forest when killed… he knew better. Even so, the urge was almost overpowering.

“Allura, Coran!” Pidge was yelling. “Did the castle pick up on these creatures before you sent us here?”

“No,” Allura sounded disquieted, and Lance winced. “This is entirely inexplicable.”

“Well, I’m not sure it’s safe to get what you wanted Coran, not when we have no idea how dangerous this planet and its inhabitants are.” Shiro said, breath coming sharply.

“No, that’s quite alright Paladins. Your safety matters most.”

Lance watched carefully as the others neared the hill. The incline was reasonably steep, and the slimy things were still in pursuit.

“Shoot them!” Keith’s voice was loud enough to rattle Lance’s eardrums.

“Woah, woah, woah. Calm down. Don’t tell me Keith’s scared of slugs.” 

The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them. He didn’t mean to sound quite so nonchalant. He watched as Keith’s face twisted in a mixture of annoyance and disbelief.

“Lance, this isn’t the time for messing around! Those ‘slugs’ could be anything! You saw their bellies, right? Or were you too busy daydreaming about Allura?”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Shiro spoke, voice firm. “Keith, focus on getting away. We don’t know what killing them might do. And Lance… this mission is serious. Please act like it.”

Lance felt shame wash over him so intensely he wanted to abandon his post right there and hide in Blue.

Except he didn’t, because his teammates were in danger and needed protecting, and that was more important than anything.

Keith’s grumbles were still audible in his ear, so Lance took a deep breath to prevent himself from retorting and steadied his aim. He waited for a sign. Movement. Anything.

Then Lance saw it.

He knew what Keith was about to do as soon as it appeared. Skin slippery and shiny, erupting out of the ground right where Keith was running. The movement of Keith’s wrist was precise and graceful, swooping to his hip to grab his knife and arching it towards the creature without even breaking his stride.

The forest rumbled in protest, and suddenly Lance knew he couldn’t let Keith kill that slug.

He raised his rifle.

And shot.

There was only time to meet Keith’s eye, to take in the shocked expression on his face, before the floor beneath him shook so hard that his eyes rattled in their sockets. He could just about make out Keith’s advancing figure, faster than the others, reaching out a desperate hand, before the ground gave way beneath him and he tumbled into darkness, faintly aware he could be dying, and that if it really was Keith’s hand around his wrist, then Keith could be dying too.

The thought made him scream.


	2. Stupid Keith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A life or death situation? Nah, Keith and Lance need to argue first.

Lance awoke to overwhelming pain shooting through his head. He tried to part his lips to cry out, but they were sealed together with the dried glue of his spit. He swallowed, and his throat burned. He could not move if he tried.

Smothered in the darkness, he raked his way through his memories, attempting to piece together how he had gotten to where he was. Slowly, it came back to him. The mission had gone wrong. They were attacked by strange slug-like creatures, who seemed to morph out of the forest itself, or maybe were the forest itself. Then one had tried to attack Keith, so Lance had shot it, and Keith had come running for him as the earth had swallowed him up.

Keith.

Lance swallowed again, prying his lips open. His voice was cracked and weak when he spoke, barely loud enough to be heard.

“Keith.” He lifted his head, muscles screaming. “Keith, where are you? Keith.”

He was in so much pain.

“Keith!” He tried again, pressing him palms to the floor and pushing upwards. His bones creaked in protest. The darkness made his head spin. He couldn’t see or hear or think anything but pain.

Hours past, or so it seemed, as Lance strained to lift himself into a sitting position. And then he heard someone groan.

“Keith, is that you? Are you okay?”

There was another groan, this time louder.

“Lance?”

Lance would have kissed somebody in relief, if they had been next to him.

“Keith! Are you all right?”

There was the sound of someone shuffling. “I think so. My arm feels a bit funny and my head is killing, but I’m alive. What about you?”

“I don’t know, man. My whole body feels like it was stepped on by the Black Lion.” Lance wondered if that was an understatement. He felt like vomiting.

“Well, you’re awake and making stupid comments, so it can’t be that bad.” Keith was moving again, Lance could hear rustling. “Keep talking, Lance, I’m coming over to you.”

Lance grimaced. “It wasn’t a stupid comment, I might be genuinely dying! Also, how is it fair that you’re able to recover so quickly? We fell from the same distance, right?” He kept his tone as light as possible, but a part of him really meant it. Keith always seemed to be good at everything, and even though Lance should be grateful that Keith was functioning enough to help him out, a petty part of himself wished it could be the other way around. Maybe then Keith would take him seriously.

It was a part of himself that he hated.

“You’ve stopped talking, Lance. There must be something seriously wrong with you.” Keith was going for an insult, but even Lance could pick up on the worry tingeing his tone.

“It’s only because I don’t want to talk to you, nothing serious.” Lance was lying about both of those things.

“Okay, I’ve found you.” Keith ignored his comment, voice significantly closer. Lance felt a cold hand grip his shoulder. “Do we have a torch? Any source of light?”

“What about where we fell from?” Lance quipped. “Why isn’t there any light coming from there?”

Keith was silent for a moment. “Maybe it was sealed off after we fell through. Or… we’ve been moved.”

“What?” Lance shuddered. He moved his hand to feel the floor beneath him. It came away slimy. “Yuck! This feels like my face masks do! Does that mean we’re in some sort of lair?”

“Shut up! Would you stop yelling?” Keith’s grip tightened on his shoulder. “If we really are trapped in some sort of lair, you’re going to attract a load of unwanted attention!”  
Lance scoffed. “Says the one.You never stop shouting, so you probably don’t realise how loud you’re being right now.”

The fingers on Lance’s shoulder hurt. Keith seemed to be fighting with himself about whether on not to snap back at him, but finally he sighed and said: “Do you have your helmet?”

“No. Must’ve fallen off when we fell.”

Another sigh. “That or it’s been taken.”

“Are you kidding me? You said earlier those slime balls were mindless! How do mindless creatures move people around and take their helmets?”

“I don't know, Lance!” Keith yelled into his face. “Would you stop complaining about every little thing? You are literally the worst person to be stuck with.”

Lance balked, lowering his head. “Right. Sorry.”

Keith seemed to have the decency to look a little guilty about his outburst, though obviously couldn’t find the words to express it. Lance was glad it was dark, and let his emotions show on his face. If only he were Pidge- clever and down-to-earth, or Shiro- brave and calm.

“Keith, do you still have your Bayard?” He asked, voice small.

“Nope, it’s gone. Yours is too, right?”

Lance nodded, and then realised Keith couldn’t see him. “Yeah.”

He was starting to feel pretty anxious. They were alone, unarmed and completely in the dark. Not to mention Keith was his best bet out of there,and with his hot head and tendency to make rash, spontaneous decisions, Lance was almost one hundred percent sure that they would run into trouble sooner or later.

“Can you move?” Keith’s voice snapped him back to the present. He tested his limbs. They groaned in protest when he moved, but the pounding in his head had eased.

“I think so. Although you might have to carry me like Prince Charming-”

“Okay, get up. We’re going to try and find an exit.”

Lance pouted, and dragged himself to his feet. He swayed precariously. “What, not even a hand up? Allura would have given me a hand up, she’s more of a gentleman than you! And she’s a beautiful princess!”  
Keith’s hand grabbed his arm, and Lance could hear him growl. “No, she wouldn’t have. And if you think I’m not a gentleman, then what about you? You literally just asked me to carry you bridal style in my arms!”

Lance was ready to protest, when Keith added faintly: “Besides, I’m not Allura.”

Something about the way he said it sounded off, so Lance swallowed his words. Instead, he asked, “Do you even know where we’re going?”

Keith’s hand only tightened its grip on his arm.

Stupid Keith and his stupid instincts.

This was going to be a long journey.


	3. Keith, we're gonna be slugs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can Keith find it in himself to trust Lance?

“Okay, we’ve definitely passed this patch of darkness before.”

“Shut up, Lance.”

They had been walking for a lifetime, and still couldn’t find an exit. Or anything really. The damp air was beginning to stick in Lance’s lungs.

“Keith, listen. I don’t think this is a good idea-”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?”

Their lack of success and the sheer slowness of their walking speed was really beginning to grate on Keith. Lance knew this, yet it still hurt when he was shut down.

“Listen, Mr. Lone Wolf, but you’re actually not the only one stuck down here. We need to work together.” He bit his lip in an effort to stop any unnecessarily hurtful words tumbling out.

Ahead of him, Keith paused. “Really, Lance?” There was venom on his tongue. “Because I’m sure you have some great ideas stuck in that dumb brain of yours. Like running and screaming, maybe?”

Lance recoiled. “Dude, what? I’m not the only one feeling-”

A rumbling sound began low and deep in the ground under Lance’s feet, travelling through his bones and vibrating inside his skull. His hands sought out Keith’s body in the dark. 

“What is that?” He asked, voice shaking.

“I-I don’t know. Lance, come here.”

“Okay.”

His hands came out to grip Keith’s forearms. He felt Keith wrap his hands around his shoulders.

“We can’t lose each other if there’s another earthquake, got that? Don’t let go.”

“Aw Keith, I’m touched.” Lance breathed into the space between them. Even he knew how lousy an attempt at a joke it was.

The shaking continued, increasing in intensity. Lance found Keith’s eyes, wide with fright.

 

Then it stopped, and suddenly they were bathed in light.

 

“Paladins of Voltron.” A voice resounded throughout the space. “You have trespassed into our forest, and killed a number of its inhabitants. This is unforgivable.”

Lance squeezed Keith’s forearms. “I- I think there’s been a misunderstanding? I mean, we thought those creatures were gonna eat us, a-and their bellies are covered in teeth, so…” He trailed off, eyes darting to take in the space they were standing in. It appeared to be a large cavern, and the stone of the walls were dripping with pale yellow slime. In the centre was a glowing orb, elevated by a large stone pillar that erupted with the ground. It thrummed in time with the tremors in the ground. Lance shivered.

“It matters none; they were guarding the forest and yet you killed them without second thought.” The rumbling voice spoke. The orb burned brighter as it spoke.

“Let us go!” Keith ripped himself from Lance’s grip, clenching his fists. “If you didn’t want us in that forest, you could have just said so! It’s not our fault if we thought a bunch of giant slugs were going to eat us! We were just defending ourselves!”

The booming voice shook the walls of the cavern.“Violence is never the answer. You should have taken the hint when you saw the guards and withdrew then and there.”

They had a point.

“Keith, my buddy, my man. Lets not argue, okay? “ Lance leaned closer and hissed into Keith’s ear. “This guy seems to be a pacifist, that can’t be a bad thing right? So don’t provoke it!”

“What kind of pacifist sends giant creatures after a bunch of innocent people?” Keith retorted, entirely too loudly. “There’s no point in negotiating with it, we just need to get out of here!”

“That won’t be happening.” The voice sent tremors through Lance’s legs. Beside him, Keith growled in frustration.

“Why not? Haven’t I just explained that this was a misunderstanding? Let us go and we won’t bother you again!”

“Keith-”

“I said that would not be happening!” The voice made the ground quake once again, and Lance toppled over as his legs buckled beneath him, still weak from the earlier fall. He curled his fingers into the ground to try and anchor himself as his brain rattled around inside his skull.

“Keith, would you stop making it angry?” He snapped when he regained his balance. He looked up to the roof of the cavern, just in case whoever was talking to them resided there, and tried in a meek voice, “What exactly will be happening to us then?”

The voice quieted for a moment, as if in thought. “The inhabitants of this planet do not believe in violence. Therefore, as punishment, it is only fitting that you remain on this planet forever, and work to make up for what you’ve done. You can replace the Slybarian’s that you murdered, and by which I mean literally replace them- your measly human bodies won’t survive here for long. Although one of you doesn’t seem quite huma-”

“Are you saying you want to turn us into slugs?” Lance screeched in terror, interrupting whatever the voice was about to say. He looked to Keith to confirm, but Keith seemed preoccupied with something else, his face white and clenched fists trembling.

“It is an honour to become one with the planet of the Slybarian. Do not fear, the transformation will not hurt.”

“Oh god, oh god, oh god.” Lance murmured. “Keith! Do something with that hothead of yours! We have to get out of here!”

A squelchy, hacking laugh echoed around the cavern walls. “There is nowhere you can go. We Sylbarian are the planet and the planet is us. You and your half-breed friend over there must embrace your fate.”

“What are you talking about?” Lance shrieked, voice rising in his panic. “Keith, what is it talking about? Keith!”

Keith stood frozen beside him. His whole body was trembling. Lance took his shoulder, shook him once. “Keith?”

“My knife.”

“What?”

Keith was still for a moment, eyes wide and breath quick. Suddenly, he seemed to shake himself out of it.

“Did you just say that the planet is you, and you are the planet? In other words, this planet is like one giant, living creature?” He asked, voice sharp.

“Why yes, which is exactly why there is nowhere you can go to escape.” The voice cackled.

“Oh really?” Keith asked. Lance watched as all the muscles in his body tensed. “Well the same applies to you!”

In one swift motion, he brought a knife from his armour and began to run towards the centre of the cavern, where the glowing orb was held. With a yell, Keith brought the knife down into it, and Lance’s eyes grew wide as it seemed to soften and part like skin beneath the blade.

There was a blood curdling screech that rang around the cavern, bouncing off the stone walls. Keith brought his knife down again and again into the soft substance, and yellow slime began spurting out like puss from the holes he created.

“What are you doing? Stop that!” The voice was everywhere, encasing Lance’s entire being. He watched in disgust as the holes began to widen, the yellow slime now erupting from them, ripping the seams further apart.

“How did you know to do that?” He asked, incredulous.

“I dunno, that orb just seemed to be like a centre piece or something, like a heart to us,”Keith yelled back, still hacking away with his knife. “Plus the planet literally just admitted to being one massive creature, so I just figured-” He cut off with a grunt, bringing his knife down once more.

Brilliant Keith and his brilliant instincts.

The slime was beginning to swirl at Lance’s feet however, and he jumped away with a yelp.

“Keith! He yelled. “It’s going to flood!”

Keith halted his movements and looked up at Lance, eyes burning. “We need to run, then!”

Lance nodded, but then thought back to how Keith had made the orb part like butter under a hot knife. “Wait! Throw your knife at the ceiling!”

For a long moment, it looked like Keith was going to ignore his suggestion, but then he nodded. Lance held his breath as the knife sailed through the air, but sure enough, upon contact, the stone opened up, cracking in two to reveal what looked like-

“The sky!”

Lance grabbed Keith’s arm. “We need to get up there somehow. Do you have any way of doing that? Like, do you hide rope in your armour as well?”

“What are you talking about? Of course not!”

“But then-” Lance whimpered. “But then how are we gonna get up there?”

A hacking, spluttering sound made them jump. “You-you won’t.” The voice was back, rasping. “The holes you made with that knife will soon heal, and this time your punishment will be death.”

Keith growled beside Lance. “Not when we’re so close.” He turned to Lance, obviously deep in thought. After a moment, he said,“Your lion.”

“Huh?”

“Call Blue. Out of the both of us, you’ve bonded the most with your lion. If you call her now, she might be able to make it through that crack and get us out of here.”

“Are you crazy, Mullet? I can’t do that!”

The planet began to shake again.

“Lance. I know you can do this.” Keith’s eyes were solemn.

Lance widened his own, vulnerability flashing across his face before he could stop it. Even though the planet had begun to laugh hideously around them, even though the ground was rocking with enough vigour to make his teeth clatter together, he could only see Keith’s determined face, and the way his eyes shone with resolve.

With trust.

Lance made sure to imprint that face into his memory, for times when he crawled into bed feeling like the only member who hadn’t contributed in a mission. For times he felt lonely.

As he closed his eyes, gripping onto Keith for support, he thought of how embarrassingly important it was to him that Keith saw him as someone worthy.

He grinned in Keith’s direction. 

“Well, since Prince charming says it, it must be so!”

And laughing at the mental image of Keith’s scowling face, he took a deep breath and called for Blue.


End file.
